Life’s lessons or lessons in living?
by Danym
Summary: Secrets and an escape make for an interesting day [GSR]


Life's lessons or lessons in living?

By Dany

Summary: Secrets and an escape make for an interesting day GSR

A/N: Again, a challenge response from YTDaW:  
-Catherine teaching someone to dance  
-The return of Greg dancing in the headdress  
-Grissom talking to his spider  
-The spider's inner monologue  
-Someone tripping  
-Sara/Grissom kissing  
-Someone yelling: "Oh Snap!"

-Warrick shirtless and  
-The spider escaping its container

Disclaimer: CSI is not mine.

xxxxx

"No, no, no, damnit Sara!"

Catherine stomped her foot on the floor to emphasize her point. Sara could not dance.

Sara was fuming as well, not at all happy with the methods of her instructor.

In an attempt to build a closer relationship, they had created this project. Sara had been seeing Grissom for almost two months now, and when Catherine had let herself into Grissom's home for their monthly breakfast, she had walked in on them working up to making love.

It had been humiliating for all participants, but Sara had taken it the worst. Looking back, she had realized that she had not really been angry with Catherine for seeing them like that; she had been jealous.

The self-confidence with which Catherine had let herself into Grissom's house had angered her and let her insecurities flare. Even as she recognized her feelings, she also knew that they would not further her relationship with Grissom. Whatever place Catherine had in Grissom's life, she was important to him, and it would hurt him immensely if he had to choose.

Catherine must have come to the same conclusion. Later that night at work, when they had a quiet minute to talk, they had agreed to try to get along better – for Grissom.

Sara had shyly asked Catherine if she would consider showing her some 'moves;' and that's how they ended up here, in a small side room of Catherine's gym.

They were stuck.

"Sara, if you don't want to do this, let's forget it. We'll find something else." Catherine was tired, and it was showing.

Sara, normally a good student, was not able to follow the simplest moves. "Damn Cath, I'm trying." The frustration that Sara was feeling was about to be dumped on Catherine, although that was the last thing she wanted. After all, wouldn't that be counterproductive?

"You're blocking," Catherine sighed and let herself drop to the floor. "Sara, you've got to let go of your inhibitions. Don't think about anyone else. This is just for you and Grissom. Don't mind me."

Sara plopped down beside Catherine, exhausted and her muscles sore form the cramping that she had forced upon them.

"I know I'm not exactly known for my ability to keep my mouth shut, but I would never tell anyone about this."

Catherine tampered down some smart-ass retort that wanted to escape, namely that no one would believe her anyway, but that comment would somehow undermine everything that she had just said.

"Alright," Sara groaned as she got up, "let's try this again."

She held out her hand and pulled Catherine up who was surprised at the other woman's strength.

As Sara made the first steps for the combination Catherine had shown her earlier, she felt her center of gravity shift. She made a step forward to regain her balance, but she tripped on a small slit in the wooden floor, toppling to the ground.

This time it was Catherine who groaned.

xxxxx

The next night, the whole shift was wondering why Sara was sporting a bandage on her wrist, but only Catherine knew the truth.

Sara had not seen Grissom after the 'training', and when she had arrived for shift, she had immediately gone to his office. The story she told him was quite a bit different from the truth; she had hurt herself while fixing her car. She felt a bit bad for lying to him, but if she told him what really happened, the surprise would have been spoiled.

She wanted to do this.

He had fussed over her, making a big deal out of nothing, but in the end, he had given in and let her stay in the lab. Although she had grumbled and groaned at this decision, she was glad. There was no way she could have been on her feet the whole day, let alone crawl through some tight space to get to some piece of evidence. She was sore, very sore.

To everyone's surprise, Grissom also remained in the lab, blaming paperwork and a lack of scenes.

Sara was in the A/V lab, sorting though some video evidence when she ran out of CDs. She was supposed to prepare a court presentation for Nick, but she couldn't find an empty CD to save a copy of the material.

Archie had to have some more; he was always very thorough about that. She opened a couple of desk drawers, but came up empty. The last drawer, though, held some cryptically labeled CDs. 'NSCD-99,' 'GSSG-01,' and 'WBD-02,' to name just a few.

Her curiosity got the better of her after reading the labels, so she pulled out the second one and put it into the computer.

What she saw there was not what she had expected. Greg was dancing in the hallway with one of those showgirl monster headdresses. It was shocking and hilarious at once.

At that moment, Archie came back from his break and was equally shocked to find Sara looking through his secret stash.

"Hey," he called, making her drop the CD case she was holding.

She glared at Archie, silently telling him that she did not like this. "Hey, it's all cool. I'm not using it. Just don't rat me out with the boss."

Grissom would be even less amused than Sara, and it was not only Greg who was scared of their supervisor. Sara pondered her options for a moment, knowing already that she would not give Archie's secret away, but letting him sweat.

"One condition," Archie was already nodding before he knew what she wanted, "everything you have about Grissom or me, hand it over."

At first, Archie tried the innocent look, but Sara's non-reaction told him that it did not work. He sighed, bending down to retrieve a key for an extra drawer.

"If I find out that you haven't given me everything…" she threatened, knowing she didn't need to specify.

Archie dropped his head and pulled out a couple more CDs, handing them over to Sara.

"Now, I need a new CD to prepare some footage for Nick."

xxxxx

Grissom was still in his office, pretending to do some paperwork. Pretending meaning he was holding a pencil over an opened file, but not actually reading or writing. He was thinking instead, mainly about Sara and marginally about Catherine.

Sara's relationship with Catherine had cooled considerably after his friend had walked in on them, but as of lately, it had taken on a new dynamic. The former state had pained him; the latter had only worried him.

They had a secret, and they were keeping it from him. The fact that those two were teaming up did not bode well for him.

A slight rustling sound alerted him to the presence of another living being in the room. Had he actually fed his spider these last few days?

Grissom got up and picked up one of the jars from the shelf. He let a cricket drop into the cage and watched as the arachnid neared its prey carefully.

"You don't happen to know what I'm in for with the ladies?" he asked his pet, feeling silly at the same time.

Sara and Catherine wouldn't have discussed anything here. "No? I didn't think so."

Knowing it was no use, he turned back to his paperwork, hoping it would provide a sufficient distraction.

Unheard by him, someone else continued his line of thinking. _He's right to be worried._

The tarantula looked up from sucking on her food, focusing briefly on the worry lines forming on Grissom's forehead.

_Right now they might play friends, but two equally strong women just have to clash. And if they, against all odds, did not, his friend would be the one to pay…and, by association, me._

The spider retreated into its hideaway beneath a small ceramic pot to store some of the food, but he had noticed something else. The lid of the container was not completely closed. _Now there's an opportunity._

After the food was safely stowed away and it was clear that Grissom was currently distracted, the journey began.

xxxxx

"Oh Snap!" the yell came from Nick as he entered Grissom's office.

He had seen something dark and furry hurrying away. Grissom looked up and saw the guilt stricken expression on Nick's face. "What…?"

Nick was still gazing out into the hallway when he stammered out his fear, "I think…could it be…that your spider got loose? Cause I thought I saw something scurrying away when I opened the door."

At first, Grissom looked at him as if Nick had lost it, but then he looked over at the box and noticed the open lid. "Oh shit."

Nick was surprised to hear Grissom swear. That was not like him.

"Nick, help me search for it. If Catherine finds out the spider is running around the lab, she'll have my hide."

Grissom was already looking up and down the hallway, not waiting for a response from the younger man. "Which direction?"

Nick pointed down one side and then followed Grissom in his search.

They ran out of luck when Catherine returned from her crime scene and found them combing the floor outside the locker room. One look at Grissom and she knew what was going on. She looked around frantically, praying that the hairy creature would be somewhere else.

Suddenly, she saw Grissom's pet.

She jumped, letting out a scream, and when she thought she saw some movement again, she jumped to the side, colliding with Warrick who had heard her scream and left the locker room to investigate – still only half-dressed.

Catherine had no chance to admire the sight of a shirtless Warrick because something dark passed through her legs into the locker room to which Warrick was still holding the door open.

"Make sure you don't open the door until we tell you," Grissom ordered, taking Nick with him to find the escapee.

Catherine and Warrick did just that, and while he was a bit uncomfortable about his state of undress, she was now taking the time to do what she hadn't done before.

A couple of minutes later, her moment was interrupted by Grissom's call that they had caught the escaped tarantula. Catherine stepped away from the door when Grissom came out, carrying the spider on his hands.

"I told you, one more escape and there would be consequences," Catherine tried to sound threatening, even as she took another step back. "The 'deal' is off."

Her last comment was cryptic, but Grissom got what she was saying. Nick and Warrick were still in the dark about their relationship, and Catherine didn't want to be the one to accidentally let it slip. It was their decision when to tell the others.

"But…" before Grissom could argue any further, Catherine had turned and fled down the corridor with one last look at Warrick who only then seemed to notice where he was and slipped back into the locker room.

xxxxx

Grissom had made it through the rest of the shift without confronting Sara about the mysterious deal.

Arriving at his home, he was relieved when he saw her car parked in the driveway. They had a breakfast date today.

She got out of the car and greeted him with a bright smile. "Hey, tough shift?"

He gave her a peck on the cheek before opening the front door.

"Is that all I get?" she sounded disappointed, but one look at her told him that she was only toying.

"How's the wrist?" At her nod, he left her at the door and vanished into the house.

Now she was truly miffed. She followed him in nonetheless and closed the door behind her.

As she stepped into the kitchen in her search for Grissom, she was grabbed from behind and spun around. She had no chance to utter a word of protest. The soft touch of his lips on hers made her sighed in satisfaction.

Their kiss left her breathless and tingling all over. Even when they parted, she still felt a burning deep within her. "Hmmm…" she hummed, making it clear what she wanted.

"If we don't make breakfast now, we never will."

He was just as reluctant to pull away, but he truly believed what he said. With a sigh, Sara extricated herself from Grissom to stash away her jacket and get ready to work on the food.

"Oh, before I forget," Grissom said while they were doing the dishes after their meal, "Catherine said, 'the deal is off' when my tarantula escaped."

He watched her face change from relaxed to stricken, and his concern grew. What was this about?

"She said that?" He nodded, his mind reeling.

"Oh," her voice broke; she swallowed looking down to the dishes.

"Sara?"

She closed her eyes, collecting herself. If Catherine was breaking their deal off, maybe it was time to show what she had learned, ready or not. She plastered a smile on her face and straightened her back. "It's alright. Why don't you relax on the sofa, and I'll get the remnants of the deal ready to show you."

He raised his eyebrows in question, but when he saw the determined look on her face, he relented, now more curious than ever.

Sara took off to the bedroom to change from her work clothes into something more suited for her purpose. She sent a quick prayer to heaven, taking a deep breath.

If it didn't work, she had at least something else to fill the evening, thanks to Archie.

"Let the show begin."

The end

_Please let me know what you think._


End file.
